Job 41
Holman Christian Standard Bible  Par ▾ 

1Can you pull in Leviathana with a hookb

or tie his tongue down with a rope?

2Can you put a cordc through his nose

or pierce his jaw with a hook?d

3Will he beg you for mercy

or speak softly to you?

4Will he make a covenant with you

so that you can take him as a slave forever?e

5Can you play with him like a bird

or put him on a leashf for your girls?

6Will traders bargain for him

or divide him among the merchants?

7Can you fill his hide with harpoons

or his head with fishing spears?

8Lay a g hand on him.

You will remember the battle

and never repeat it!

9hAny hope of capturing him proves false.

Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?

10No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan; i

who then can stand against Me?

11Who confronted Me, that I should repay him?

Everything under heaven belongs to Me. j

12I cannot be silent about his limbs,

his power, and his graceful proportions.

13Who can strip off his outer covering?

Who can penetrate his double layer of armor? k  l

14Who can open his jaws, m

surrounded by those terrifying teeth?

15His pride is in his rows of scales,

closely sealed together.

16One scale is so close to anothern

that no air can pass between them.

17They are joined to one another,

so closely connectedo they cannot be separated.

18His snortingp flashes with light,

while his eyes are like the raysq of dawn.

19Flaming torches shoot from his mouth;

fiery sparks fly out!

20Smoke billows from his nostrilsr

as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.

21His breath sets coals ablaze,

and flames pour out of his mouth.

22Strength resides in his neck,

and dismay dances before him.

23The folds of his flesh are joined together,

solid as metal s and immovable.

24His heart is as hard as a rock,

as hard as a lower millstone!

25When Leviathan rises, the mightyt are terrified;

they withdraw because of his thrashing.

26The sword that reaches him will have no effect,

nor will a spear, dart, or arrow.

27He regards iron as straw,

and bronze as rotten wood.

28No arrow can make him flee;

slingstones become like stubble to him.

29A club is regarded as stubble,

and he laughsu at the sound of a javelin.

30His undersides are jagged potsherds,

spreading the mud like a threshing sledge. v

31He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron;

he makes the sea like an ointment jar.

32He leaves a shining wake behind him; w

one would think the deep had gray hair!

33He has no equal on earth —

a creature devoid of fear!

34He surveys everything that is haughty;

he is king over all the proud beasts. x

a. 41:1 Jb 3:8; Ps 104:26; Is 27:1
b. 41:1 Is 19:8; Hab 1:15
c. 41:2 Lit reed
d. 41:2 2Kg 19:28; Jb 40:24; Is 37:29
e. 41:4 Ex 21:6; Dt 15:17; 1Sm 27:12
f. 41:5 Lit or bind him
g. 41:8 Lit your
h. 41:9 Jb 41:1 in Hb
i. 41:10 Jb 3:8; Jr 50:44
j. 41:11 Ps 24:1; Rm 11:35; 1Co 10:26
k. 41:13 LXX; MT reads double bridle
l. 41:13 Jr 46:4; 51:3
m. 41:14 Lit open the doors of his face
n. 41:16 Lit One by one they approach
o. 41:17 Lit another; they cling together and
p. 41:18 Or sneezing
q. 41:18 Lit eyelids
r. 41:20 2Sm 22:9; Jb 39:20; Ps 18:8
s. 41:23 Lit together, hard on him
t. 41:25 Or the divine beings
u. 41:29 2Ch 30:10; Jb 39:7,18; Hab 1:10
v. 41:30 Is 41:15; Am 1:3
w. 41:32 Lit a path
x. 41:34 Lit the children of pride
Job 40
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